Are you fixated on the idea that working more is the key to success? What if we told you that the key to success is not the hours you put in but about focusing your attention? You achieve better results by dedicating just 8 to 12 hours a week to a singular goal, refining processes, and creating intentional focus.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, we discuss how focused attention leads to real progress rather than putting in more hours. We explore where the hustle culture propaganda stems from and how it only leads to burnout and decreased productivity.

Don’t miss this episode to learn how to create a simpler approach to work that focuses on what truly matters in your life and business.

Key Questions:

• [00:33] Did you know you can achieve more impactful results by dedicating 8 to 12 hours a week to a specific goal, refining systems, and improving processes?
• [06:46] Do you feel like you’re on a hamster wheel, hustling without making real progress in your business?
• [16:50] Are you focusing on the right problem within your business?

What You’ll Discover:

• [01:31] Understand that hustling leads to burnout, preventing you from long-term success and enjoyment in life.
• [03:14] How the hustle culture in America was shaped by corporate interests leading to societal stress and inefficiency.
• [05:28] How agency owners who hustle often find themselves trapped in a cycle of working long hours with little progress.
• [07:18] How to create boundaries between your work and life and focus on key services in your agency.
• [12:55] How to plan and prioritize short-term goals for better results than setting long-term, vague goals.
• [14:19] The importance of patience and focus in achieving meaningful progress in your business goals.
• [16:50] Why solving the key problem can lead to solving multiple issues within a business.

Book Recommendation:

• Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee

How are you prepared to evolve your SEO and organic search as a marketing channel in this age of AI? AI is transforming organic search marketing, so it’s important for businesses to provide high-value content to meet the personalized needs of today’s customers.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, Greg Brooks joins me to explore SEO and organic search marketing and how AI is transforming organic search marketing. Greg is an author and partner at SearchTides, a hub for all things search and SEO, and in the AI era of searching online. His role is pivotal in shaping the future of effective SEO, leveraging large language models, or LLMs, and navigating an AI-driven era of the internet. Greg has successfully collaborated with industry giants such as Home Depot, Zillow, Western Union, and FanDuel.

Listen in to learn how to align your SEO and social media strategies based on customer journey length and domain authority strength. You will also learn whether your SEO works best for your business and when to explore other marketing channels.

Key Questions:

• [01:22] Is organic search still a viable marketing channel in the era of AI and fragmented online search behaviors?
• [04:32] What’s your advice to businesses to stay updated with AI advancements and SEO changes?
• [13:39] Who is organic content for and not for, and is organic search meant for everybody?
• [15:49] How can businesses adjust their SEO strategy to account for user intent and funnel stages, ensuring they reach the right audience at the right time?
• [27:35] What’s your advice to businesses still trying to determine whether SEO and organic search are a viable channel for them?

What You’ll Discover:

• [02:00] How Google positions itself as a leader in AI-driven search, unlike GPT models, which are often blocked from web traffic.
• [04:45] How to study user behavior and the buyer’s journey to tailor content across multiple channels and touchpoints.
• [08:06] The future of AI-generated content and why human expertise is more important than ever.
• [12:31] The importance of content structure and scrollability to ensure content is easily digestible and tailored to modern user behavior.
• [13:29] How people are taking combined ways of searching online even as businesses continue to focus on easily trackable marketing strategies.

How do you leverage data in your agency to create effective marketing strategies? When appropriately leveraged, data in marketing can help you optimize audience targeting, campaign performance, and overall marketing outcomes.

In this episode of The Agency Blueprint, I discuss how to base marketing decisions on data instead of making assumptions or shifting tactics too quickly. I also explain the importance of having a disciplined, long-term approach focused on continuous testing and small incremental improvements in various marketing funnel stages to double results over time.

Listen in to learn the importance of understanding your audience, running A/B tests, and tracking attribution across channels to refine strategies and achieve measurable success.

Key Questions:

• [01:13] Are you harnessing data within your agency to create effective marketing strategies?
• [08:30] How do you go about thinking through your existing marketing strategy that allows you to make improvements?
• [09:32] How well do you understand your audience? Are you collecting the data necessary to segment and target them effectively?

What You’ll Discover:

• [01:32] How marketers often jump from one tactic to another without giving marketing strategies enough time to prove effective.
• [02:36] How to leverage data to test and verify your marketing efforts instead of making assumptions.
• [03:56] The importance of perseverance in marketing and monitoring progress before giving up too early.
• [06:25] The power of making small, incremental improvements in various stages of marketing to double results.
• [08:30] How to think through your existing strategy and make improvements in each marketing stage.
• [09:32] How to deeply understand your audience and use data to articulate their problems better than them for more effective marketing.
• [12:38] The importance of A/B testing even when initial assumptions about messaging may seem obvious.